The present invention relates to an electrical device comprising a first electrical module, a second electrical module, a flexible conductor foil including a plurality of electrical conductors electrically connecting the first and second electrical module with each other, and a filtering element. The invention further describes a corresponding manufacturing method thereof. The invention relates in particular to an electrical device that is adapted to filter the electromagnetic interferences arising in the electrical conductors connecting the two electrical modules to each other.

The requirements with respect to Electromagnetic Compatibility, also referred to as EMC, on electrical devices are increasing. Different solutions have been proposed to provide for good EMC properties. In some solutions, the tracks arranged on the surface of a printed circuit board in the electrical device are individually electromagnetically filtered using filtering elements such as ferrite elements. In such solutions, each single track is individually filtered, thereby increasing the manufacturing costs of the electrical device.

In the previously described systems, the traces on the printing circuit boards are individually electromagnetically filtered. This solution however appears to be not suitable for performing electromagnetic filtering of the electrical conductors within a flexible conductor foil such as a Flexible Printed Circuit, also referred to as FPC, or in a Flexible Flat Cable, referred to as FFC. These flexible conductor foils electrically connect two electrical modules to each other and can have dimensions that are relatively large, thereby rendering individual electromagnetic filtering too expensive to implement. However, electromagnetic filtering of the conductors is required in the FFC or FPC elements, since they may carry interferences from an electromagnetically filtered printed circuit board to another electrical module, thereby potentially disturbing the functioning of the electrical device. There is therefore a need for providing a cost-effective electromagnetic filtering of the electrical conductors in a flexible conductor foil.

An object of the invention is therefore to provide an electrical device and a method for manufacturing the same that allow to achieve improved electromagnetic filtering, while guaranteeing reasonable manufacturing costs.

This object is solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Preferred embodiments are subject matter of the dependent claims.

An embodiment of the invention provides an electrical device comprising a first electrical module, a second electrical module, a flexible conductor foil including a plurality of electrical conductors electrically connecting the first and second electrical module with each other, and a filtering element, wherein the filtering element is mechanically integrated in the electrical device and the flexible conductor foil is at least partially led through the filtering element, thereby electromagnetically filtering the plurality of electrical conductors.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the electrical device further comprises a housing, wherein the filtering element is mechanically integrated in the housing.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the filtering element comprises a latching element and the housing comprises a corresponding recess, so that the filtering element latches with the housing upon insertion of the latching element into the corresponding recess.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the filtering element is made out of ferrite.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the first electrical module is a first printed circuit board and the second electrical module is one of a second printed circuit board or an electromechanical module.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a method for manufacturing an electrical device, said method comprising connecting a first electrical module to a second electrical module by a flexible conductor foil, said flexible conductor foil including a plurality of electrical conductors electrically connecting the first and second electrical module with each other, and mechanically integrating a filtering element in the electrical device, wherein the flexible conductor foil is at least partially led through the filtering element, thereby electromagnetically filtering the plurality of electrical conductors.

• Fig. 1 is an overview of a printed circuit board with a filtering element arranged thereon;
• Fig. 2 is a side view of the printed circuit board shown in Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 is an overview of a portion of a housing with a filtering element arranged thereon according to an embodiment of the invention;
• Fig. 4 is a side view of the portion of a housing shown in Fig. 3;
• Fig. 5 is another side view of the portion of a housing shown in Fig. 3.

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like reference elements throughout. The embodiments are described below by way of example in order to explain the invention by referring to the figures but are not limited thereto.

Fig. 1 describes a system, which comprises a printed circuit board 1 having a plurality of electrical conductors 4 arranged thereon, wherein the electrical conductors 4 are electromagnetically filtered by a filtering element 2. The filtering element 2 is provided to filter the plurality of electrical conductors 4. Even though Fig. 1 represents the particular case of two electrical conductors being filtered by the filtering element 2, it may be considered to filter an arbitrary number of electrical conductors. Fig. 1 shows an overview of the system, wherein the top surface of the filtering element 2 is represented.

Fig. 2 shows a side view of the system represented in Fig. 1, wherein the structure of the filtering element 2 is represented. The filtering element comprises a first filtering element 2 and a second filtering element 2' that are connectable to each other to form a filtering chamber. The first filtering element 2 is adapted to be inserted into through-holes of the printed circuit board 1, on a first side of the printed circuit board 1. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the first filtering element 2 is arranged on the first side of the printed circuit board 1, on which the electrical traces 4 are foreseen. Hence, the electrical conductors 4 are enclosed between the surface of the printed circuit board 1 and the first filtering element 2.

As can be seen in Fig. 2, the second filtering element 2' is arranged on the second side of the printed circuit board 1. The second filtering element 2' is adapted to be inserted into through-holes of the printed circuit board 1, in such a way that the first filtering element 2 and the second filtering element 2' form a filtering chamber, thereby electromagnetically filtering the electrical conductors 4 arranged on the surface of the printed circuit board 1.

The filtering element 2 is made out of a material that is adapted to filter the electromagnetic interferences emitted by the electrical conductors on the surface of the printed circuit board 1, such as, for example, ferrite. Alternatively, the filtering element may be formed of iron powder. For mechanical issues, a bonding agent made of iron powder or ferrite may be used.

An electrical device according to an embodiment of the invention will now be described with respect to Figs. 3 to 5. An electrical device comprises a first electrical module and a second electrical module (not shown).The electrical device further comprises a housing, in which the first and second electrical module are embedded, separated in two portions of the housing. Fig. 3 shows a portion 10 of the housing. In the embodiment represented in Fig. 3, the filtering element 3 is integrated in the portion 10 of the housing.

The filtering element 3 shown in Fig. 3 may comprise an opening 11, through which a flexible conductor foil (not shown) including a plurality of electrical conductors electrically connecting the first and second electrical module with each other can be at least partially led, thereby electromagnetically filtering the plurality of electrical conductors.

The flexible conductor foil may be e.g. a Flexible Printed Circuit FPC or a Flexible Flat Cable FFC. The flexible conductor foil has a plurality of electrical conductors arranged therein. Fig. 3 shows that the flexible conductor foil 1' is led through the filtering element 3, which is integrated in the portion 10 of the housing of the electrical device and enables to electromagnetically filter the plurality of electrical conductors arranged in the flexible conductor foil'. Since the filtering element 3 is mechanically integrated into the electrical device, this allows to electromagnetically filter the plurality of electrical conductors of the flexible conductor foil without having to filter them individually. This enables a reduction of the manufacturing costs related to the electromagnetic filtering of the electrical conductors, while guaranteeing a high level of electromagnetic filtering.

The filtering element 3 is preferentially a block made out of ferrite, wherein its form determines the filtering properties. Indeed, the form of the ferrite block and the mechanical integration into the electrical device determine the filtering properties of the LC filter formed by the ferrite block. A person skilled in the art would consider the appropriate form of the ferrite block that corresponds to the particular application that is targeted. Alternatively, the filtering element may also be formed of iron powder. For mechanical issues, a bonding agent made of iron powder or ferrite may be used.

Fig. 4 shows a side view of the portion 10 of the housing of the electrical device with the mechanically integrated filtering element 3 according to an embodiment of the invention represented in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 shows another side view of the portion 10 of the housing of the electrical device with the filtering element 3.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the electrical device comprises a housing, wherein the filtering element is mechanically integrated in the housing of the electrical device. According to yet another embodiment, the filtering element comprises a latching element and the housing comprises a corresponding recess, so that the filtering element latches with the housing upon insertion of the latching element in the corresponding recess. This allows to mechanically integrate the filtering element in the electrical device in a reliable manner.

The first electrical module is preferentially a first printed circuit board, and the flexible conductor foil may connect the first printed circuit board to either a second printed circuit board or to an electromechanical module, such as a drive, or an electrical module such as a DAB or Sirius module, for example.